Christ Scourged at the Pillar - a meditation on the Second Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary

At the pillar they ripped Your flesh, Oh My Jesus.
They desecrated our Father’s Word
with their lies and deceit. Their hypocrisy.
Even their passive disregard tore at Your truth.

They used their shards of bone,
ripping and violating Your perfect body.
God’s perfect Word made flesh.
The crowd urged them on, screaming,
“Crucify him. Crucify him. Crucify him.”

But their hatred, even their fear and unbelief,
have no power sufficient to overwhelm
Your perfect love, Oh My God.

***

Pray, I don’t look away from their abuse.
Let me see how I have been part of their number.
In ways overt, and all those times, too,
when I could have defended You,
but remained silent instead and looked away.
When I could have offered kindness,
but turned instead and walked away.

Pray we care enough to stand with you.
Enough to share Your Love.

Pray, prepare us with Your strength. Help us:
Love in the face of violence.
Overwhelm evil with Your goodness.
Heal distortion with Your beauty.
Answer lies with the truth of Your love.

Pray, we have Your strength to act,
when You call upon us.
That we don’t stand idly by,
fearful of the crowd,
fearful of being identified as Yours.

Pray, we are prepared, awake,
robed in Your love and mercy, Father.
Ready to stand with You, as Jesus did.
Faithful in our love for You,
our obedience to You, Oh God,
Our Father in Heaven.

*******

Our church suggests we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, and, during Lent, on Sundays. (See USCCB: https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary). May our Lord surround and comfort you throughout this season and draw you closer in your relationship with Him.

?Remember, each of these meditations are in my Rosary Meditations Library, here at Walking With My Brother. The Meditations Library includes additional resources that you may find helpful, including background readings and a publication schedule for future Rosary meditations.

?And these meditations also publish at Catholic 365 and on Substack, which allows people to subscribe and access them for free. If you do want to contribute to this effort, all donations will go to help physical renovation of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows in Nashville.